Month: June 2022

My summer vacation is officially here.  Whew!   It was a long and difficult school year.  COVID and mask issues, adjustments to a new class of students who I had to get to know, being short staffed, new employees learning how our school program works and the tragic passing of a beloved behavior staffer made it a rough ride. 

But we survived the ride and so did the kids. 

IT WAS A CHALLENGING SCHOOL YEAR BUT WE MADE IT THROUGH.

Still, there were bright spots during the past 10 months. Six of my students graduated high school and another transitioned back to their home school.  Several passed their Driver’s Ed curriculum and three more kids found and flourished in gainful employment. 

I learned better skills in classroom management and how to help our students find their way through school and prepare for the ‘real world.’  Any teacher who says they have nothing new to learn about their profession is either lying or clueless.

This past weekend I partied it up a bit to celebrate the care free days of summer.  Daily swims at East End Pool are tops on my list.  As I noted in my last blog, it’s great to see my “summer family” again at the pool and my tan is already bronzing up.  Nothing better than the mixed fragrance of chlorine and sunscreen at the pool.  Woo Hoo!

As for my summer apparel, gone are the long black slacks, polo shirts, socks and shoes; replaced by gym shorts, swim shorts, T-shirts, no socks and either flip flops or well worn gym shoes, and walking around the house shirtless most of the time, thank you.

MY SUMMER TAN IS JUST STARTING.

Around the house, there’s improvements to do.  Yard work, patching cracks in my driveway, cleaning up inside and a few repairs that are being delegated to professionals are some of what will happen. 

I’ve got friends to see, baseball games to watch (and yes, I’ll nerd up and keep a scorecard for a bunch of them) and there are writings to work on. 

Beyond those things, who knows what else will happen?  I think the best part of my six-week plus vacation is that I can do what I want, when I want.  No set schedules, no deadlines to hit, no reports to file.  Just a free life. And not to bemoan how the school year went but this break is well earned and well deserved!

Here’s a fitting song to kick off my summer break.  Cheers!

FYI- I’ll be back to blogging sometime in August to let you know how my summer was.

Summer buzz haircut?  Check.  New brown lens polarized sunglasses from Shady Rays? Check.   Large tube of Banana Boat 30 SPF sunscreen?  Check.  Two pairs of swim shorts 1 navy blue, 1 gray? Check.  Annual Elmhurst Park District pool pass updated? Check.  In other words, swim season at East End Pool is totally on and we’re back in the water!

Last year, thanks to the Pandemic, the pool’s season didn’t kick off until mid-June but this year East End opened on time for the Memorial Day weekend.  Elmhurst’s other swim facility, Smalley Pool opened a couple weeks later than expected due to a lifeguard shortage that has since been mitigated.  I just saw how that lifeguard shortage is delaying the opening of Chicago Park District pools until probably early July!  This in spite of offering lifeguards 600 dollar signing bonuses.  Yikes!

But forget all that.  I’ve been back in the water for the last couple of weekends and it feels great.  I really missed my time at East End and appreciate every single minute I can spend there.  It’s also been fun catching up with some of what I call my “Summer Family”, pals who are daily regulars at the pool like me.  There are just a few folks I haven’t run into in the water yet because I still have one more week of summer school to go. 

After June 24^th, I’m all in the pool as many days as the place is open; doing my laps (starting with 20 and adding 1 more lap each day) and talking to my pool pals about sports, movies, music and our daily goings on.  Sadly, we did learn of the passing of ‘Don’, an East End regular who succumbed to a brain aneurism this past winter.  Don, in his tattered red baseball cap was always up for some baseball talk and loved spending time away from the pool with his grandkids.  Rest in peace Don, you’re already missed by us daily swimmers.

There’s also been some schedule changes at East End, including the elimination of the one hour adult swim before younger swimmers can hit the pool.  They switched that out with an opening hour of time in the water just for those with seasonal passes.  This new deal isn’t going over too well with some folks and I understand their frustrations.  Maybe if we make enough noise to the Elmhurst Park District things can change for next year.

But right now, changes be damned, it’s water time.  Once my summer break starts, I just want to focus on the sun, splash and laughs had with that summer family.  So, here’s to warm weather, blue skies and all the fun hanging at my hometown pool brings. 

Next Week’s Blog: Summer Break is Finally Here!